A Missile Too Far

Barack Obama not only inherited a wrecked economy from George Bush, but a wrecked war in Afghanistan. Instead of wiping out the Taliban in 2001 and making certain an effective and honest government was in place in the country, George had bigger plans on his mind such as the ill fated invasion of Iraq. Resources were diverted from Afghanistan and little was done to either create an effective Afghan armed force or to create conditions for economic success. The result is the chaos which now characterizes the war in Afghanistan. The country is too large to handle for the existing number of American and NATO troops so there is ever increasing reliance on drone attacks.

Yesterday, drone planes sent missiles flying into a Pakistan compound which was under the control of Hafiz Gul Bahadar, a local commander who does not like Americans. Most probably, a dozen or so of his men were killed, but so were women and children. Pakistan Army head, General Kayani, uttered words of warning that “drone attacks undermine our nation’s efforts against terrorism and damage public support against our efforts.” Of course, General Kayani and his ISI provide military and economic support for the Taliban even as they complain about attacks on the Taliban.

In one sense he is correct that ongoing drone attacks will kill militants, but they also kill Pakistan public support. In other words, Obama is between a rock and a hard place.